Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is headed for a rematch with Rick Santorum in Missouri, locking down Republican support in the Show Me State.

Legislators are expected to cast the final votes on the $70.4 billion budget for the next fiscal year on Friday afternoon.

The 423-page plan, which includes an increase in school spending, money for a museum highlighting the Bay of Pigs invasion and an airport-to-Disney World transit line, is an increase from the $69.2 billion budget for the current fiscal year that ends June 30.

House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, called the work a Herculean effort.

View the budget plan here.

Despite its reputation as a gun-friendly state, Florida is losing ground to liberal enclaves like Vermont and Maine when it comes to carrying concealed weapons.

Four states -- Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming -- allow their residents to "conceal carry" without a permit. Twelve more states are considering legislation to join that group. But Florida is not among them.

Although none of the Republican candidates looking to defeat Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson commands a monopoly of support, North Floridas major Republican players seem to agree on one thing: the U.S. Senate race in Florida is a virtual two-way between former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV.

Certainly theyre the two front-runners, in terms of name recognition and fundraising, Bob McClure, the president and CEO of the James Madison Institute, told Sunshine State News.

Florida lawmakers Wednesday passed a plan to increase scrutiny of the sales or leases of public hospitals, after months of debate stemming from hospital deals that went awry.

The House and Senate passed a compromise plan, HB 711, that would lead to the secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration reviewing potential sales or leases.

Senators earlier proposed giving that role to the state chief financial officer, while the House wanted to allow circuit judges to sign off on hospital deals. Gov. Rick Scott, who appoints the AHCA secretary, objected to those ideas.

Watch your wallet Thursday when the Senate is due to take up SB 2094, Adam Putnam's hard-fought-for energy bill.

After the not so "Super" Tuesday results, pundits and experts predicted a much longer march to the Republican National Convention to be held in Tampa. Many experts believe Mitt Romney will ultimately gain the required delegates to win the nomination prior to the convention.

Legislative leaders dont expect massive last-minute budget chaos to ensue from a disputed court ruling that could require refunding government workers 3 percent of their pay, with interest, that has been collected for their pension plans over the past eight months.

The state appealed the ruling Tuesday by Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford that the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott failed to follow the state Constitution when requiring workers last year to start paying 3 percent of their salary into the Florida Retirement System.

Senators anticipate Gov. Rick Scotts desire to reform the states supposed low-cost auto insurance program will require late-night negotiations with theirHouse counterparts.

And with two days left in the regular session, some are bracing for a call back to Tallahassee because the differences in the House and Senate version of the efforts to remove fraud from the personal injury protection auto insurance program may not be resolved by Friday.

Religious and political temperatures rose Wednesday on the eve of a Senate vote on "anti-Sharia" legislation.

Muslim groups, joined by an array of religious leaders, condemned the distribution of literature criticizing Islamic law. One of the pieces, a pamphlet titled "Shari'ah Law: Radical Islam's Threat to the U.S. Constitution, was circulated by Sen. Alan Hays, sponsor of Senate Bill 1360.